Stop to the Brainwashing

We suck at deciding what foods to buy at supermarkets. We buy too much overly expensive, unnecessary, and low-nutrient crap. That's why most of us are are fat, unhealthy, and/or in debt.

A big reason for our decision making disability is packaging. It's backwards. The most important information - what is to be eaten (the ingredients) - is hidden in tiny letters on the back. And the least important information - fantastical brand names and slogans in fancy colours - is featured prominently.

Because of this, we shouldn't be surprised that we make purchasing decisions based on what's most visible (the brand) instead of what's most important (the ingredients).

But what if we reversed this?

A Call for Brand-Free Supermarkets

Let's introduce supermarkets that follow one simple rule: they can only sell brand-free products.

All packaging will be plain white or transparent. The ingredients will be written in big plain black writing on the front and on the back will be the nutritional information. Nothing else. Don't even include product names.

So a bottle of Coke would change from this:

To this:

A bit less glamorous isn't it? Instead of hiding behind branding that has nothing to with the product itself, the crappy filler ingredients and preservatives are literally put front and centre.

With nothing to distract us anymore, we can be totally conscious of what it is we're buying to put into our bodies. This will lead us to make healthier, more natural, and more rational purchasing decisions.

Products will be purchased on the basis of their nutritional merit, not their image.

All it takes is one simple rule for the future of supermarkets, and our diets, to change forever.